1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an assembly for refrigerant circuits that is arranged between the compressor and the evaporator thereof and includes a housing with a through channel.
2. Prior Technology
Within conventional vehicle air conditioning refrigerant circuits there are, on the one hand, at least one contaminant-removing filter and one decompression valve between a compressor and an evaporator and provided as assemblies at different positions of the refrigerant circuit in the connecting pipelines. Thereby, upstream of the respective decompression element, a filter is arranged either locally distanced and separated in order to prevent that the decompression element from being contaminated by foreign matter and/or plugged.
A locally distanced installation of both assemblies in a refrigerant circuit for vehicle air conditioning units is described in printed G 93 03 177.7. As provided therein a can-shaped separation device (a filter assembly) is installed that removes foreign fluids or foreign matter from the refrigerant. Then the cleaned refrigerant is directed to a decompression valve assembly which is locally separated from the separation device, and is decompressed there, before it is directed to the evaporator.
A spatial separation of both the assemblies within one housing in a refrigerant circuit, with a solenoid valve arranged therein, is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,755,048. In order to prevent foreign matter from entering into the refrigerant circuit during the assembly process, this construction has at its inlet a particle filter arranged upstream in a housing containing both the assemblies. That means that the particle filter and the valve passage are arranged separately, spatially distanced from each other.
A refrigeration device with two evaporators is described in DE 195 47 744 A1. A drying device with a filter assembly positioned therein is contained in the refrigerant circuit upstream of the decompression devices, which are arranged upstream of both the evaporators. A solenoid valve is located between the drying and both the decompression devices, controlling the refrigerant flow into the evaporators. The decompression devices and the filter assembly are locally contained in the pipeline system thus being distanced from each other.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,185,959 refrigeration system components with cartridge-associated heat decompression valves are described. The decompression valve is placed within a decompression valve-containing housing, which is designed in form of a cartridge, in the upper part of the cartridge housing and in the bottom space region a ring-like filter assembly is installed. The refrigerant fed in first passes the filter assembly, then a standpipe and is finally directed to the decompression valve. Therefore also here a spatial separation of the filter and decompression valve within one housing is given.
An arrangement for the control of a refrigeration circuit with a decompression capillary tube is described in EP 0 240 811 A1. On the input side a filter assembly is connected to the pipeline of the condenser and on the outlet side a longer capillary tube is placed downstream of the filter assembly as a decompression element directed to the evaporator. Thus a spatial succession of the filter assembly and the decompression element is provided.
In all above mentioned arrangements of filter assemblies and decompression assemblies both of the assemblies are, at least successively arranged one after the other separated from each other both physically and functionally, which causes high cost of the refrigerant circuits.
The invention aims at providing an assembly for refrigerant circuits that is suitably designed in such a way it is simply designed and cost-effective, being able to be installed in refrigerant circuits demanding less assembly effort.